Need input on 100mm and 300mm manual primes

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salukfan111

Senior Member
Gustafson
You can program your new camera with what MF lens you are using (if you are so inclined) and there is MF assist (arrows and dot). For getting into super awesome telephoto stuff, get a TC 16a (auto focusing teleconverter) but make sure it is modified to work on your camera (180 ish ebay) and there are great MF telephotos that work great with it. If you buy MF make absolutely sure the lens are ai'd (it will say in description)

I'll give you a breakdown of the cheapest way to get into full spectrum shooting for the least money.




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Look for a nikkor 180mm f/2.8 (screw drive AF), this will do for regular telephoto stuff and is super sharp (crop all you want). 300 or a little more on ebay. Unless you need super fast focusing, this would be better for you than the similarly priced 70-300 vrg most folks have. Unless you are shooting birds you may want to just get this lens and hold off on long glass for a bit. If you've got a screw drive camera it is hard to justify not owning this lens.

Telephoto (for when you want long - I'd hold off for now unless you bird watch)
TC 16a TC modified for D7xxxx (you have to use in aperture mode gives 1.6x and turns MF into AF) 180 ebay
MF 300mm f/4.5 edif 150 ebay (light enough to lug around all day low elements)
MF 400mm f/5.6 edif 300 ebay (light enough to lug arond all day low elements)

The 300 option will get you to 300 x 1.6 x 1.5 (dx crop) x 1.3x (additional crop) ~ 1000 mm f/8 ish for 350 (the 400 option will give around 1250mm effective for a little more)

The 300mm produced most of the Nat Geo pics yous drooled over as a kid.
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Keep your 18-55 for awhile and upgrade to a 20-35 f/2.8 (screw drive famous pro lens) or a 18-35mm sometime in the future (good deals on ebay).
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Get a 28-85 (screw drive 60 bucks ebay) or a 24-85 (better lens 200 ish ebay). There is a 35-70 f/2.8 (screw drive 250 ish) if you want a famous pro lens. I own all three and truthfully the 28-85 spends more time on my camera than all my other lens combined.
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Nikkor 135mm MF f/2.8 (150 ebay the f/3.5 even cheaper) OR 105mm f/2.5
There is a Tokina 100mm f/2.8 AF that is around 400 bucks if you want to skip the MF as a starting point.
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Nikkor 200mm MF f/4 (macro and really sharp 100 bucks ebay), you'll need to fix CA in Lightroom on the Macro pretty great lens otherwise.

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Voigtlander 58mm f/1.4 MF (400 ebay) words can't even describe this lens.

The various 50mm nikkor pancakes (f/1.8) are dirt cheap (less than 50) and nice too.
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If you want a longer zoom nikkor 80-200 mm f/2.8 (don't get the push pull and be sure it is screw drive). Unless you need super fast focus this is a nice famous lens you can get for 300 ish ebay.
 
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gustafson

Senior Member
@salukfan111, thanks for that primer on lenses to acquire. This is great stuff and other than the 105 f/2.5 and the 300 f/4.5 ed if, I was unaware of these lenses. I do have a few others - 200 f/4 Nikkor-QC, 100 f/2.8 Series E, 50 f/1.8 Series E, 35 f/1.8 AFS DX, and 28 f/3.5 Nikkor-H. Not sure if any of these would substitute for any of the lenses you suggested. The 200 and the 28 are not AI'd, so I'll have to remember not to mount them on the D7100 until they are. Thanks for your suggestion, I'm excited about acquiring the TC-16a (can it really turn MF into AF? How??!!) and a good 300 / 400mm super tele.


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S

salukfan111

Senior Member
gustafson said:
@salukfan111, thanks for that primer on lenses to acquire. This is great stuff and other than the 105 f/2.5 and the 300 f/4.5 ed if, I was unaware of these lenses. I do have a few others - 200 f/4 Nikkor-QC, 100 f/2.8 Series E, 50 f/1.8 Series E, 35 f/1.8 AFS DX, and 28 f/3.5 Nikkor-H. Not sure if any of these would substitute for any of the lenses you suggested. The 200 and the 28 are not AI'd, so I'll have to remember not to mount them on the D7100 until they are. Thanks for your suggestion, I'm excited about acquiring the TC-16a (can it really turn MF into AF? How??!!) and a good 300 / 400mm super tele.


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The 16a has a cpu and a screw drive focus. The camera thinks it is a cpu'd 140mm lens. It's not perfect but the keeper rate isn't bad. I had a thread on it under telephoto's. You absolutely need back button focus though. If you're shooting beyond 40 yards set the focus at infinity and the TC does the rest. It does have 5 elements so with the 5 to 8 your telephoto has you're getting up to zoom territory. What I'm finding is that if the shot is within 150 yards the best option is cropping a bunch of 180mm f/2.8 shots. If you're shooting at 400-800 yards it isn't bad.

Before you buy anything find someone to borrow or rent stuff from. If you like the 180mm f/2.8, then you'll buy your lens around that. You don't want to be in a situation where you have a 70-300 vrg, 80-200 f/2.8 and the 180mm f/2.8 and only shoot the 180mm. It may be that a 180mm and the 300mm f/4.5 with or without tc 16a are all you'll ever want. I took pictures of a gyrfalcon today with a 400mm f/5.6 and the tc16a at an altitude that was higher than you'd believe and it did ok all things considered. Just make sure your tc16a is modified to work on a d7100 (there is a guy from Lithuania and another from Canada on ebay - I've bought from both no issues but you do have to set the camera up per instructions you'll find on youtube).
 
S

salukfan111

Senior Member
gustafson said:
@salukfan111, thanks for that primer on lenses to acquire. This is great stuff and other than the 105 f/2.5 and the 300 f/4.5 ed if, I was unaware of these lenses. I do have a few others - 200 f/4 Nikkor-QC, 100 f/2.8 Series E, 50 f/1.8 Series E, 35 f/1.8 AFS DX, and 28 f/3.5 Nikkor-H. Not sure if any of these would substitute for any of the lenses you suggested. The 200 and the 28 are not AI'd, so I'll have to remember not to mount them on the D7100 until they are. Thanks for your suggestion, I'm excited about acquiring the TC-16a (can it really turn MF into AF? How??!!) and a good 300 / 400mm super tele.


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Unless you're into gifting lens be careful to get one of everything before buying doubles.

I'm not sure but the 200mm you have will be ok (sharpness wise but long minimum focusing distance) if ai'd.
I have that same 50mm and it is fine. Definantly hold off on that voigtander 58mm for a long while. The 180mm and 28-85mm are the ones that will make you happy.

I don't actually own a 35mm or 28mm (have two wide zooms and a 20mm) but promise you'll love the 28-85 and it has a weird 10" macro feature if you're into shooting misquotoes or flower pistals. If you get the 28-85 instead of the 24-85 then you'll want the 35-70 f/2.8 in addition to it (don't get the 35-70 if you get the 24-85 kind of redundant).
 
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gustafson

Senior Member
@salukfan111 I got a used unmodified TC-16A. Is it normal for the aperture lever and the other lever (focusing?) to freely slide from side to side when you turn the lens? Wanted to make sure that's not a defect before I proceeded to modify it. Thanks in advance!


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S

salukfan111

Senior Member
There is a sliding piece in there. There is a guy from Lithuania on ebay that sells modified ones that will modify your's for 50 bucks. Good for you modifying itself yourself.
 
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